Q.1: Action recommendations: What should Yola Carlough do regarding political voice, employee morale, and product development?
Yola Carlough was the head of Social Mission in Ben and Jerry’s, and she had to face many issues concerning the mission statement of the company, such as political voice, employee morale and product development. It was hard for her to integrate the social beliefs of Ben and Jerry’s into the code of conduct of Unilever.
• Employee Morale:
Prior to the acquisition, employees of Ben and Jerry’s saw the company as a network of family and friends in which they were all fully involved and integrated. Ben and Jerry’s had a policy in which no one was fired. They developed a 2 year grace period with
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It would not have made more sense to forge an alliance with Ben and Jerry’s because both benefited more from the acquisition than they would have from an alliance.
Firstly, Ben and Jerry’s was developing and becoming more and more popular every day, and they were unable to satisfy demand due to restricted production facilities. They needed larger facilities and more labor in order to increase production. Unilever were able to support Ben and Jerry’s distribution network, and to give them the ability to enter new markets. Ben and Jerry’s had reached their highest point, and so were unable to do this alone. An alliance would have been possible, but had an alliance been forged, it would not have been profitable enough for Unilever, because it would not have made sense for Unilever to forge an alliance with a company who had already reached their highest point. Therefore, in order to help Ben and Jerry’s meet the demands of the market, and to restructure the manufacturing process, it made more sense for Unilever to acquire Ben and Jerry’s than to form an alliance with them.
Considering the sizes of the two companies, it would have been naïve and ignorant to forge an alliance. When forming alliances, it is important that the two companies be similar in some ways, and size is an extremely important factor to consider. Unilever was a large
Kroger would like to be included in the ACD for Anchorage. Which is currently in their Kroger-TeamCo and Kroger – TeamCo STEP portfolio. A little background on the Kroger/TeamCo relationship: Kroger, recently submitted a full redemption request to TeamCo (TeamCo is a FoF and the majority of their business is with Kroger). As a result, TeamCo has started the liquidation process and will no longer exist as of January 2018. However, the anchorage position in the TeamCo portfolios have always been in Kroger’s name, so there will not be a need for a transfer of ownership or beneficial ownership. Kroger is still needs to figure out if they will redeem, maintain or add to the position. In the meantime, they would like to be included to
Strong branding- They have a strong presence in the European, American and Asian market as an established firm. They have been able to create a unique brand image in the minds of consumers by differentiating themselves from other companies through the ensuring of the best premium quality products.
Looking for a drink to warm your holiday season? Well buy Trader Joe’s 100% Organic Hot Cocoa. Trader Joe’s Organic Hot Cocoa is rich in flavor because every ingredient is natural. Trader Joe’s grow their Cocoa beans in beautiful tropical weather. Then our workers take the cocoa beans and smash it, until it is in powder form. Soon after we add our organic sugar syrup and our organic nonfat dry milk altogether, with the cocoa powder. Trader Joe’s don’t add no dangerous chemicals in this process, that is why one sip of Trader Joe’s Organic Hot Cocoa Mix will transport your taste buds to heaven.
Although Ben & Jerry’s was purchased by Unilever, the change in ownership does not signal a change in the mission. Unilever supports the guiding principles that have been fundamental to our business from the beginning. Under the agreement with Unilever, Ben & Jerry's will operate to a large extent independently. The people who work at Ben & Jerry’s are passionate about the company and its unique
3. Why is Ben & Jerry’s a takeover target? Is there evidence that investors are dissatisfied?
The difficulty in implementing this program would be getting people to buy into the idea of hiring these skilled immigrant workers. American has this notion that we are the best at everything. People may feel that these skilled immigrant workers are not qualified to do such jobs. In order to combat this I would have people like Mr. Cash tell his story. I would have Mr. Cash explained that his skills in accountant and his knowledge of the stock market is what allowed him to afford the expenses associated with traveling to America. I would have him share his story of how he was taken advantage of and the struggle he faced to care for himself and his family
Although it is obvious that Ben and Jerry's must transform into an organization which is "networked", it will not be enough to make their business functional because they need to brace for viable re-establishment in the long run. Therefore it is necessary that they adopt a complete strategy, and accompany the reorganization by a clear redefinition of the missions. At this stage, we have two alternatives: Either we decide to set up a strategy of which the core mission is the financial viability of the company, or we try to preserve the core mission centered on the values of the company without compromise.
The whole process throughput time of making a dozen of cookies is 26 minutes. It takes washing, mixing and spooning 8 minutes to make a dozen of cookies. And preparation and bake time totally are 10 minutes. The final step of cooling, packing and accepting payment of cookies takes roommate 8 minutes to finish the cycle. Assume the night capacity is 4 hours, so Kristen and roommate have 240 minutes operating time. Since the oven only holds one tray, the second dozen takes an additional 10 minutes to bake. For example, first dozen of cookies take 26 minutes to make, second dozen of cookies take 36 minutes to make and third dozen of cookies take 46 minutes to make. So we can
In 2000, Unilever decided to reduce 1,600 brands down to 400 and then select a small number of them to serve as “Masterbrands”. One of the reasons to have fewer brands is to decrease control issues. It is harder to manage so many brands, especially when each one has its own particularities. As Deighton pointed, Unilever’s brand portfolio had grown in a relatively laissez-faire manner. In other words, the company’s brands were created without large interference.
There are many pros to this offer. Unilever is the largest ice cream producer in the world and like Dreyer’s, already has an extensive distribution network and extensive knowledge of the market. With an offer of $36 (cash), Unilever had by far the best looking offer on paper. They also have a market capitalization of $18 billion and can provide the financial backing that Ben & Jerry’s needs. On the other hand, there are a large number of cons and a huge amount of risk. B & J would have to give up a great deal and essentially “sell its soul” if it were to accept this offer. Unilever has no intention of keeping with B & J’s corporate vision and practices of social responsibility which made B & J a household name in the first place. Unilever is a much larger and more diversified corporation than the others and simply won’t be able to put in the “t.l.c” into the product that Ben & Jerry’s has built their reputation around. As a result, brand loyalty will drop significantly as will B & J’s value. If Unilever were to adhere to B & J’s social charter this would be a much more attractive offer.
McDonald's Corporation is considered to be the largest fast-food operator in the entire World and was initially formed in 1955 after Ray Kroc had pitched the idea of opening up numerous restaurants founded on the original which was owned by Mac and Dick Mac McDonald. McDonald's in 1965 decided to go public and then introduced its flagship product, which was the Big Mac, sometime in 1968 (Botterill, 2007). Today, McDonald's functions beyond 40,000 restaurants in over 200 nations and have one of the world's most extensively recognized brand names. McDonald's sales started hitting around the mark of $58 billion corporation -wide and over $30 billion in the United States alone in 2012 (S&P).
Golden Valley Foods, Inc. is a 127-year-old company that prepares packages and sells canned and frozen foods which include fruits, vegetables, pickles and condiments. Golden Valley has more than 30 processing plants in operations and annual sales of approximately $650 million. Much of Golden Valley’s management staff comes from their parent company with the previous president saying “The influence of our old parent company is still with us. As long as new products look like they will increase the company’s sales volume, they are introduced. Traditionally, there has been little, if any attention paid to
Manny Flavors Cookie Company (MFCC) is a reputable family owned business that has been in operations since 1889. Now in its fourth generation of ownership, MFCC’s sales have flourished and it is important that the business continue to grow to its fullest potential. Despite the success of the company, MFCC is currently experiencing problems on the operating floor. Willie Keepum, Vice President of Operations at the company, wishes to terminate all of the employees because he believes that many of the employees have a negative attitude and have become complacent about the quality of the product. Disregarding the opinions of the mid-level managers, he believes that firing the employees will show the workers who is in charge because there is nothing anyone can do to make the employees motivated to work. The current paper will explain the problems that MFCC face and how these problems may affect the company in its future business endeavors. Then, there will be an explanation of how a change in leadership style can benefit the organization more than terminating any employees. Lastly, alternative solutions will be stated to resolve the problems faced by workers and leaders on the operating floor of MFCC.
3. What are the risks to each company in the alliance? Are there risks to the shareholders of the company? Do you think a three-way merger is possible?
Operation of Unilever around the world starts fragmenting, but Unilever continues to expand globally and investment made in R&D is increased.